Why it works: Milk and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,611 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Irish Potato Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Mix the milk and mashed potato thoroughly, then rub through a colander.
Beat the egg yolks, one egg white, half the sugar, and half the lemon juice together.
Stir the egg mixture into the milk and potato mixture.
Bake the pies
Line two pie pans with a stiff cream paste.
Pour the mixture into the lined pans and bake until set.
Top and serve
Make a meringue by beating the remaining egg whites with the rest of the lemon juice and sugar.
Spread the meringue over the pies and return to the oven until golden.
Let the pies cool and serve cold.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks set the custard-like filling, and whites form the meringue topping.
- Mashed potato
- Adds body and a thick, smooth texture to the filling.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that sets into the filling when baked.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps the meringue become glossy and stable.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweet filling and helps stabilize the meringue.
The step that matters
Rub the milk and potato mixture through a colander. Pressing the mashed potato through a colander breaks up lumps so the filling becomes smooth and even, rather than grainy, once it bakes and sets.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, lemon):
- Asparagusfits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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